Welcome to the first day of Autumn

Autumn has arrived in New York City and there are signs of it everywhere. The leaves are turning shades of red, orange, and gold, and when I stroll under the trees I look out for acorns falling. Outside of the city the changes are more striking. Before long the leaves will be piling up.

Vincent van Gogh, Large Plane Trees, 1889. This image and data was provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art.

When I think of fall, I picture vivid colors and dramatic light. Different artists come to mind, but one of my favorites is Vincent Van Gogh because of his use of color and his bold brushstrokes. Last year I got the opportunity to see some of his works in person at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and I keep a few postcards of his work posted up next to my computer.

This particular work by Van Gogh was painted on a cold day in November in Sainte-Rémy in southern France. He painted the golden leaves of the large plane trees and the laborers working beneath them on a piece of cheap linen fabric; zoom into the image in ARTstor to see the pattern of red diamonds on the linen showing through where the paint is thinner. It is fantastic to see these types of details in a work by an artist I truly enjoy.

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